Earlier today we brought you the video — and we’d told you before that — how Celtics GM Danny Ainge is saying he doesn’t plan to make any trades at the deadline. Which is easier to say after your team has won six in a row. Still he is saying it over and over in a round of interviews.

Danny Ainge did his annual radio interview where he appears flabbergasted at all the trade talk and says it’s unlikely they’ll do a deal. Of course, we know from past years, that Ainge isn’t exactly forthcoming in such interviews. Multiple teams tell me they’ve talked to the Celtics and they believe everything is on the table — as it should be. If Ainge can make the team stronger for a run at the Finals he will. If he can’t, but he can just start the rebuilding process in a big way — why wouldn’t he? The team he has now probably isn’t a serious Finals contender. I think it’s likely it moves one way or the other. So when I wrote a few weeks back that he could or could not move Rondo, I wasn’t trying to have it both ways. I meant that both options are on the table and he’s looking for the best deal for his team. If there’s a great Rondo trade for the Celtics, he’ll do it. If there isn’t, he’s not in firesale mode, he’s not moving players like Rondo or Paul Pierce for the sake of shaking up the team.

It comes down to this question: Do you think this Celtics roster, playing well, can win a title?

Boston fans do. They note how they took Miami seven games in the Eastern Conference finals last season. Ainge thought enough of it to bring back Kevin Garnett and everyone not named Ray Allen, plus get a deeper bench.

I’m not sold they can do it. Not close. While Boston had a few reserves injured last season they got to play a Hawks team without Al Horford, a not-that-great Philly team (which was there because the Bulls’ Derrick Rose blew out his knee) and then they got four games against Miami without Chris Bosh. Everything broke their way, I doubt it does again.

But my gut is still Boston makes a run with this group again. They may tweak around the edges but not at the core of the squad. And in a conference where every team has flaws, they could get back to the Eastern Conference finals. Although I think second round and out is more likely (with a loss to the Pacers or Knicks). If Ainge thinks they are second round and out, then a bold move could be in order. If a good one falls in his lap.

Tom Benson, the now 90-year-old owner of the New Orleans Pelicans and the NFL’s Saints, a few years back changed around the succession of control of the team after his passing — his wife Gayle will take control. Rita Benson LeBlanc, Benson’s granddaughter and former handpicked successor, sued saying Benson had been manipulated. After meeting privately with Benson, a judge ruled that while Benson suffered some “cognitive impairment” he was capable of making his own decisions and that Gayle remained the successor.

Benson has been sued multiple times since then, including by former Saints employee Rodney Henry, and the then-89-year-old Benson was deposed in that case last year.

During another set of questions, apparently aimed at establishing how close Benson and Henry had been, Benson was shown a photo of the two men with Pelicans star Anthony Davis.

“Who is this?” Williams asked.

“It’s Rodney and a basketball player,” Benson said. “Oh, hell, I forget his name. Let me — he’s a great player for us. Tell me his name, and I will tell you yes or no.”

When asked “is it Anthony Davis,” Benson said yes. The man is 90, I’m not sure that we should expect much. He had the foresight to bring in people to run his businesses — including his sports teams — and set up a line of succession for when he does pass. Smart moves.

Would Benson’s mental state impact potential changes coming to the Pelicans? Probably not. New Orleans’ GM Dell Demps bet big on going big in a league trending smaller, pairing Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. If that doesn’t work out, plenty of people around the league expect a house cleaning on the basketball side with the Pelicans. Benson’s mental state, whatever it may be, does not impact that.

The deposition leak came from an anonymous source (and anonymous email account, the paper verified the document before publishing). Who leaked it? It may be nearly impossible to find out, but only one side benefits from all this becoming public. And it’s not Benson.

A few years back in Philadelphia, the athletic K.J. McDaniels was a highlight factory and looked like a guy who could develop into a role player on the wing in the NBA.

Except, he never actually developed. Houston gave him a chance (three years at a total of $10 million), and it didn’t work out, then last season Brooklyn had him for 20 games, but they decided to move on.

Now Toronto is going to give him a chance, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

McDaniels’ agent later confirmed the news. This is a training camp, make-good contract for McDaniels. But unlike a lot of those contracts being handed out around this time, there is space on the Raptors roster for a player or two.

Before the KJ McDaniels partial, Toronto had $116.6M in guaranteed salary with 13 players + the $100K partial of Alfonzo McKinnie.

McDaniels will compete with Alfonzo McKinnie, Kennedy Meeks, and Kyle Wiltjer for one of the final roster spots in Toronto. Of that group, I’d most likely want to keep McDaniels because of the shot blocking and his potential — but his outside shot has to improve.

The Raptors can carry 15 on the roster and very possibly will until at least Jan. 10, which is the date these partially guaranteed deals become fully guaranteed for the season. Toronto is flirting with the tax line, and ownership is not going to want to pay the tax for this team, so if they do carry 15 they likely will cut it to 14 by that date.

The #DriveByDunkChallenge has been a fun distraction this summer. If you don’t know what it is, it essentially involves NBA players jumping out of their cars to dunk on regular folks on community basketball hoops.

There are still some serious doubts about whether the Celtics will be able to unseat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference, but perhaps they won’t need to wait for long. Rumors are starting to trickle in about LeBron James leaving Ohio, so maybe by the time we are used to seeing Hayward in Celtics green next season they will have less competition out east.